Ubisoft Just Lost 1.3 Billion

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]So, Ubisoft just lost 1.3 billion. My name is Caps Cube. We're going to discuss how we got here, what contributed to this situation. Also going to have a look at the delectable origins, which is what is running in the background here on a PlayStation 5 2017.

[00:00:12]Can you believe this video was supposed to be a Mirage Origins comparison, but after the news availably applicable to address the situation, there's two things to cover before we get into the detail. And the first of which, and this may not be obvious to some people, companies outlive humans. They are like these terrifying machines that replace their parts with other new people and this can basically affect the whole culture of the original mission statement. I only got to look at Disney to see how horrific that can turn out.

[00:00:42]It's crazy. In another life, I used to deal with a client. They're like a maritime charity/service provider. They were founded in 1514. That's 200 years older than America. Trinity House as a conglomerant is still going. Whether Ubisoft makes it that far is another kettle of fish. My point is there's always a metamorphosis. It's very difficult to keep that message going through the generations and video game development is a new industry and a lot of the bigger ones are struggling with this. I'll throw EA in there. Ubisoft was founded in the late '80s and some of you like me are senior enough be able to look at the entire timeline and see all of their amazing games and then obviously the material that they brought out in their modern era. I produce a lot of content called when Ubisoft was good and I focus on some of those amazing titles from back then. What I'm getting at is there's very few of the old guard still in position at Ubisoft. It's kind of completely metamorphosized. Now that brings me on to my second point that doesn't really matter because times change. You need to keep up with quite a turbulent landscape. So being able to adapt is looked upon as a strength in industry. But at the same time, this entire process is policed by something called capitalism. Without sounding patronizing, capitalism doesn't know race. It doesn't know gender. You might have eight arms. You might not even be born on this planet. But if you create something that is consumable and popular, you will rise to the top.

[00:02:08]Despite socialists hating it, it's actually quite a good process. It self-p polices and it also rewards on meritocracy. If you get results, you will be successful. The same thing goes for your target audience and your legacy audience. A good example of this is high performance motorcycles and their sales.

[00:02:29]If you look at the demographic of individual that's involved or spends within this sector, it's quite a narrow gap. So, it's important for these brands to stick to the pillars that a got them where they were in the first place, but b keeps them within this applicable vertical. It's the reason you didn't see the R1 Yamaha release with pink ivory and fluffy handlebar covers. They know their audience. Jaguar on the other hand and Ubisoft should also know their audience. Toughest pickpocket in the whole game coming up here.

[00:03:04]It could easily be said that Ubisoft have not only ignored their legacy and core audience but also insulted them to a certain extent. Now, we need to discuss the money behind Ubisoft as a company. Full stop. 10 cents stepped in and actually bought a large chunk.

[00:03:20]That's why this $1.3 billion is not really going to shut the entire company down. It's just going to give a lot of higher management a massive kick up the ass. 10 cent can afford 1.3 billion.

[00:03:32]They kind of are starting to own a lot of Western IPs. They are a company based in China and they are worth keeping an eye on. very aggressive moves over the last 5 years, but I think they may have been a blessing in disguise because UB could probably have not taken that massive loss without them. Let's get to what I mentioned about the insult stuff, about what Ubie have put on the shelf that they've refused to either re-release or continue. The first of which for me and as a local co-op content creator, I am Couch Coup, the Rayman series. Rayman Legends nearly made this entire channel when it came out. It was unbelievable. one of the best PS4 local co-op platformers ever created. You've also got a game called Child of Light, which just should have got sequaled. So popular with local co-op JPG turnbased game, Expedition 33.

[00:04:20]It was there years before. Again, full local co-op. And sticking on that subject, Splinter Cell. Splinterell Conviction. One of my most pleasant local co-op memories over on the 360 was playing that game with a mate, having that screen split, creeping around, murdering people from the ceiling. It was a very special game, particularly for me and the whole series. I think 10 cent will lean on them to bring that back. 100% we're going to see more of Sam Fisher. And that brings me over to the Black Flag Reync remake, which I think again they were under pressure to roll out because they just sat on it for a decade. Didn't move and came out with the absolutely ridiculously labeled quadruple Skull and Bone. So, let's get to the modern mistakes that they've been making.

[00:05:03]Yeah.

[00:05:16]>> Where did all this stuff come from?

[00:05:23]We didn't need X to find. I actually never even played the game. Strangely enough, I put a video out about the Rainbow 6 Extraction Alien Shooter, which is probably better than the aforementioned, and you heard me mention it before, Skull and Bones. The cost of that game, it blows my mind. When you read articles about what's going on at the moment, loads of people include Shadows, and they are well within their rights to do that. I personally think it's a bit of a technical marvel, despite all of the discourse around what happened with that character. But 2 and a half thousand people worked on that game. Put that in perspective around 600 worked on Ghost of Yote. I think Ubisoft need to apply a bit more efficiency with their spending and with their promises and also remember the capitalism mantra which is you've got to make it good and you've got to make it applicable to both your legacy and current audience.

[00:06:12]There's a manager somewhere in the Ubisoft head office getting that shouted at them right now. And that's a good thing. I've seen so many studios over the years be shut down who were perfectly good, who didn't make the colossal mistakes that Ubisoft have made and are making. The spoiled rich kid who gets away with what they want. I think that is now coming to an end.

[00:06:42]That brings me on to Outlaws. And if you know the channel, you'll know I didn't jump on that. the protagonist is too ugly bandwagon. I've spent too much time looking at the game's open world mechanics, how loyal it is to Star Wars cannon, and whether it's any fun as a video game. They tried really hard to make a decent single player experience, and they even patched some of those stealth mechanics. Externally, when you look at this industry, when you look at the feedback from the fan base and try to explain to people that Outlaws was boycotted by a lot of what would normally be fans because the protagonist wasn't fit enough is a difficult one to justify.

[00:07:20]But on the other side of that coin, the whole western make it crap, make it ugly thing has got so out of hand that us legacy gamers are just about done with it. If an ugly fied main protagonist pops up, then it's alarm bells everywhere. Brackets fable. This is why Crimson Desert is so damned refreshing.

[00:07:38]Everyone's gorgeous looking. Zero politics in it. It is stuck to its sword and sorcery source material like glue.

[00:07:45]It's also beautiful on a technical front with its open world, how everything interacts, the engine that they built in house is amazing. It's a real shot over the bow of what Ubisoft do. It's their exact model in some cases. So I think that's definitely going to help in the long run having some healthy competition. Think about Bethesda and UB. They've sort of had the reigns to that kingdom for a long time. Investors are slowly starting to realize that not having Californian style modern politics inserted quite abruptly into your source material is something that won't lose you $1.3 billion. Politics aside and game design and function in general, Origins is just so superior to Mirage.

[00:08:27]is absolutely mind-blowing. You've almost got souls like combat. You've got one of the best maps ever created for an Assassin's Creed game. You've got all these amazing sets and weapons and leveling. You've got some really adult subject matter with the story. And you've got graphics that still, in my eyes, hold up to every Assassin's Creed game that's come after it. Can't believe I'm saying that.

[00:08:50]Shooting her.

[00:08:52]A [ __ ] there.

[00:08:58]This area is off limits.

[00:09:00]>> Mirage also has this dumbed down almost simplified range combat mechanic. The whole thing feels like Assassin's Creed.

[00:09:07]A lot of you might be like, "Look, they were trying to go back to their roots.

[00:09:10]They improved that parkour. They were trying to make it like the traditional games given a singular metropolis within that map and some of that hit home. Same thing with Valhalla. They went for a different angle. It did and didn't work.

[00:09:21]I really enjoyed that location. and some of the mythos around the Vikings, but again, if you know, they screwed that one up as well. As mentioned, Origins was released in 2017. Roll on 2018 and we get Ghost Recon Wildlands and Far Cry 5. Now, Far Cry 5 is super important for me personally. I feel like that was the last Harrah. That was the last of the old guard signing out because there's really nothing wrong with that as a Far Cry game. It's kind of peak. I know a lot of people love three and four, but five, if you play it today, completely off the hook with the characters and story, it's a million miles from the stuff they produce. Now, >> you're a Raven B.

[00:10:06]>> So, what happens now? Well, everybody gets told off. Hopefully they buck their ideas up and start coming out with some halfdeent fresh IPs and roll out sequels to their original successful ones. It's crazy. Back to that other life thing. I used to be in sales. I used to sit in an office with a massive six-f figure number above my head on a board behind me. And if I didn't chip away at that number every single day, you were fired.

[00:10:28]You were out. You were done well within a month. For some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to these big video game companies. They can lose that amount of money and there can't be mass firings.

[00:10:37]But I think there will be. We just saw a big layoff on midlevel at about 1,300, but I think there's going to be more.

[00:10:43]Let's see what that new black flag is going to be like. There's already rumors about them doctoring some of the female outfits. Cleavage removal is that siren I can hear in the background. Stay tuned because talk of the devil patch 1.08 has just dropped for Crimson Desert. It's like the 15th patch we've had in its twomonth existence. It's unbelievably good usertodeveloper improvements. I think a lot of that stems from Black Desert and the MMO model, but I'm loving it. Go and play Origins if you haven't already. Go and play Wildlands and go and play Far Cry 5. My god. If you've never got to that game, that is a piece of history. My name was Caps Coupe and I will see you down there.

[00:11:25]Walk the path.

[00:11:39]You couldn't [ __ ] do that.

[00:11:43]Run for it. Run.

[00:12:17]Shut the [ __ ] up.

[00:12:19]Okay, I'm the one with the [ __ ] dick.